


Merry Christmas, Raihan

by bobadeluxe



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21947074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobadeluxe/pseuds/bobadeluxe
Summary: Raihan visited Chairman Rose in prison, just in time for the holidays.
Relationships: Rose | Chairman Rose/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Merry Christmas, Raihan

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of this fic lets just say the game event happen one month before christmas.
> 
> Happy holidays y'all!

Duraludon roared in protest as Raihan recalled him. Even now, he was struggling still inside his pokéball. The motion thrashed the ball around on the metal tray, hitting one corner and bounced into another. The security guard held him in place, her palm preventing light from shining within - or without. There was nothing Raihan could do but watch. Pokémon were not allowed to enter the premises. 

The Macro Cosmos' security searched his body, patting him down with gloved hands and a detector. Until she was certain that there was nothing underneath Raihan's oversized hoodies, except perhaps his need to compensate. His Rotom was taken away, and then they took out his phone's battery. Everything was transferred into a plastic zipper bag with a small label printed on top. The chicken scratches there informed him that it had been one month since Chairman- since _Rose_ turned himself in.

One month, and Raihan already crawled coming back to him like a Wooloo to his flock. He wanted to feel ashamed - he _should_.. but he didn't.

"Right this way, Mr. Raihan. If you would please follow me," She gestured with one arm and kept her head low in a bow.

Was this standard protocol or special treatment? Hard to say. It had been quite some time since someone referred to him with this level of formality. Since Oleana.

He followed her.

Most of the visitation room was empty, and purposefully so. Though Raihan wasn't sure if the feeling of dread was part of the design. Apart from a wall that split the room into two sides, a glass panel, a chair with no back support and a telephone - there was nothing else noteworthy. Even the painted grey walls surrounding them gave no sense of neither warm nor cold. Lit by bright fluorescent lights, this room felt like the Rose Tower. Sanitized, standardized, inoffensive, and absolutely lifeless. 

Raihan sat down. He noticed immediately how uncomfortable this set up was. No one would want to sit here for long - if they would want to spend time in a prison in the first place. There was a small counter underneath the glass panel where he could rest his arms. But that too was cold to the touch and didn't help matters. Raihan had nothing to do but play with the telephone wires while waiting for them to retrieve Rose. The Macro Cosmos guard told him it would take a while. 

When he arrived, Raihan no longer knew what to do with his hand - nor his heart. Endless, conflicted emotions came surging back into him. The telephone wires weren't just something he toyed idly with to pass the time, but a lifeline he must hold on within an inch of his life.

Rose thanked the guard or so Raihan assumed by the movements of his lips. He didn't hear his voice until Rose sat down and picked up the telephone. Even through a low quality speaker, his voice was as clear as when he gave out a speech at the Pokémon League's opening ceremony. In short, no difference from his memories.

" _Raihan."_

He shivered.

Rose looked.. good. The only noticeable changes were his hair and beard. No longer had expensive hair products and a personal hairdresser, Rose's facial hair grew into a full beard instead of his trademark patterns. The shaved sides were also starting to fill in, but apart from that he looked fine. Clean and well-maintained, kept his beard trimmed and his hair short. He looked healthy too, must have not lost any weight since the last time they met. His eyes still had sparkles in them, and his smile was toothpaste-commercial ready.

Raihan didn't know what he expected. Shouldn't he want Rose to be faring well, instead of being put in an inhumane living condition? This was how it was supposed to be. Rose turned himself, accepted all charges, and he was an influential man - the former chairman of a company that controlled all aspects of Galar. Rose was the brain, and every business under Macro Cosmos were the organs Galar needed to survive. Even if he was a regular citizen, Raihan shouldn't wish to see him suffer. Nothing but skin and bones under the prison uniform, eyes blood-shot and sunken… No. That would be.. _wrong._

Yet it was upsetting him to see Rose like this - uneffected. As if nothing happened at all. The world continued to turn and his life only changed in location. From the penthouse on top of Rose Rower to a private prison. It was wrong of him to think - and to _feel_ \- like this. But Raihan wanted him to be punished.

Guilt consumed him, gnawing at his vocal chords so much that Raihan had no word left to say.

Rose was the one who broke the silence, before the visitation time ran out, "Thank you for coming."

Raihan said nothing.

"I thought no one would come to visit me.. apart from Oleana, that is. During the holidays too, no less. It made me feel quite lonely. It's good to see a familiar face," He kept trying to make conversations.

Once he realized that his fake friendliness was not going to work, Rose got his attention through other mean:

"Are you mad at me, Raihan?"

Raihan's thoughts drifted somewhere else. He was leaning into the phone, but his heart wasn't really in it. He heard but listened nothing, until that question shook him back to reality. It was phrased like a question, but Rose said it in a downright accusatory tone. Raihan jumped in his seat.

"Yes, sir?" He hated how meek he sounded. He was taught to become accustomed to being polite, and submissive.

"Do you feel betrayed?" He asked again. "You helped me protect the lights for so long and… well, we both know what happened. I don't think you need me to repeat- Do you feel used?"

The shortest answer would be _Yes._

_Yes, sir. Yes - How dare you? How could you do this to me? I believed in you._

But it was rare for heartbreaks to be described in one short word. When Raihan was given the title of Hammerlocke Gym's leader, along with the responsibility that came with it - he felt _proud._ Finally, he could be more than Leon's shadow. A role he could play that wasn't a hopeless rival. His Pokémon performed their duty with pride. Dragons considered themselves as higher beings. For them, to be able to dedicate themselves to a cause, bigger than them and worthy of their power, was the greatest honor.

Raihan remembered when he climbed to the top of Rose Tower overlooking Galar with his Pokeémon. He remembered himself pointing at the lights, shining so brilliantly Galarian citizens never felt compelled to look up to the stars. Or searched for the horizon that had been entirely obscured by skyscrapers. It felt like witnessing a rare natural phenomenon _and_ knew that he had a hand in creating it. An aurora that Raihan painted with his own brush. He felt… like he was worth something.

And now he realized that he was tricked all along. Foolishly believed in some grand goal, he didn't realize whose pockets he was lining up. His naivety turned his Pokémon into Rose's tools. And the worst thing was, even now, after everything that happened, after Rose became so obsessed with 'saving' Galar he no longer cared who or what would end up destroyed - Raihan was still proud of himself. A selfish part of him kept whispering that he did nothing wrong. Who could blame him that it ended up like it did? He believed in a good cause. He didn't know.

But it was too difficult to say, so he only replied with, "You used me."

It was the most direct answer.

"I'm not going to apologize, if that's what you are hoping for," Rose said, nonchalant as ever. "I accept any punishment the public deem necessary, but I do not regret what I did. What I believe in."

“I know that."

"If I have a second chance, I would do it again - "

“ _I_ _know._ I'm not looking for an apology."

Rose met his gaze through the glass, "Then why have you come here?"

Once again Rose rendered him speechless. Why did he come here? Because.. because after his rival fell from grace, and he was stripped from his duty - Raihan was truly nothing. He had nothing to be proud of. No goal and no value. Because he missed the strong hand on his back that guided him into the power station the first time. And he missed the voice that praised and validated his worth. _And he missed -_

"Because it's Christmas," Raihan blurted out instead. The worst excuse he could find.

But it amused Rose. He busted out laughing, an ugly noise that traveled through the phone down to Raihan's spine.

“In that case.." He smirked, leaning into the telephone so close - he almost kissed the speaker. His voice was as sweet as poison. "Merry Christmas, Raihan."

**Author's Note:**

> This was not beta read and English isn't my first language, apologies if there's any mistake!


End file.
